VOLUME 56 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 12, 2019 P81
Cycle News European
Road Test Editor Alan
Cathcart rode the new
KTM 890 Duke R, a pre-
production prototype
(which explains the black
guise), prior to the bike's
unveiling at EICMA.
Product Management. "We wanted
to create the ultimate mid-class
sports naked that's also a serious
option for riders of bigger bikes
who are looking for something
more agile, but still powerful, and
exciting to ride."
In fact, the 890 project dates
back to 2012 when KTM engineers
first began work on creating the
LC8c parallel-twin motor. "We
always intended to develop a 790
Duke R, which was in our plan-
ning from the start," states Sinke.
"But then during the development
program it got to the point that we
weren't happy with our prototype
of this—it wasn't enough R, not
enough KTM. So we decided
to produce just the 790 Duke to
start with, and then go full attack
on the R, and make it what we
believe a KTM Duke R should be,
if necessary with a bigger engine.
So we basically tore up the spec
sheet of the original, and went
back to the drawing board to fig-
ure out how far we could take that
engine and that chassis—and the
890 Duke R is the result."
And what a result it is. By dint
of increasing both bore and
stroke of the LC8c motor from 88
x 65.7mm to 90.7 x 68.8mm, to
deliver a 90cc increase in dis-
placement, KTM has achieved
a significant increase in perfor-
mance from the new engine,
which delivers 99Nm of torque
at 7750 rpm, 13Nm more than
the 790 Duke, itself until now
the class-leading middleweight
package, and 119 bhp/89kW at
9250 rpm, so 14 bhp more power
running on 95 octane pump fuel.
Yet despite this they've actu-
ally raised the rev-limiter on this
TWIN!
R
BY ALAN CATHCART I PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEIKO MANDL
